Hyperbaric oxygen therapy is well accepted, however, there can be serious disadvantages with systemic delivery of oxygen. Elevated systemic oxygen can result in oxygen toxicity leading to central nervous system issues, pulmonary disease, and seizures. While external hyperbaric oxygen chambers have been used over the years to treat the wounds and sores of medical patients, the following problems have persisted: (1) patient immobility and potential claustrophobia, (2) lack of portability of the equipment, (3) excessive cost for purchasing and operating specially designed oxygen delivery equipment used in conjunction with hyperbaric chambers. Many attempts have been made to simplify the therapy. For example, several have suggested using inflatable bags wrapped about limbs or even the entire lower body. These solutions are still cumbersome and do not allow patient mobility. Many others have developed compositions comprising fluids such as perfluorinated alkanes to deliver oxygen to the tissue. These compositions have questionable toxicity and wound healing potential.
There are many other medicaments that can be advantageous to wound care (e.g., antimicrobial agents, chemotaxis agents, steroids and other anti-inflammatories, growth promoters, and vasodilators), that can be delivered in a gas, vapor, or aerosolized phase under pressure. Conventional therapy requires a procedure of removing a dressing to access the wound and apply the medicament. This procedure potentially exposes the wound to contamination, can cause skin stripping, and is time consuming and costly due to frequent dressing changes. There is a need for a convenient and safe method of delivering medicaments to a wound or portion of skin without the need to remove the dressing.